Alesco submits Dulux bid to Takeovers Panel

Alesco
wants the Takeovers Panel to force
DuluxGroup
to increase its bid to $2.23 in cash and to compensate investors who traded after the revised bid announcement on Monday.

Alesco said the new bid’s value was “misleading and deceptive" and overstated the amount of dividends Alesco could pay. On Monday, Dulux increased its cash bid by 5¢ to $2.05 a share and said it would allow Alesco shareholders to receive up to 18¢ a share in franking credits if the Alesco board paid 42¢ a share in fully-franked dividends. This would provide Alesco shareholders with a total value of up to $2.23 a share, it said, subject to tax.

Alesco is seeking a declaration of unacceptable circumstances from Dulux. Alesco also wants an interim order restraining Dulux from lodging or publishing a supplementary bidder’s statement and an interim order that Dulux provide a corrective announcement.

The garage doors group also wants final orders requiring Dulux to increase the cash amount of its bid to $2.23 a share, allow shareholders to withdraw acceptances in the wake of the revised bid and compensate those who bought since the revised bid.

The sitting panel is yet to be appointed and no decision has been made whether to conduct proceedings.

A senior merger and acquisitions lawyer said, should Dulux be forced to increase the cash amount of its bid to $2.23, it would be, to their knowledge, unprecedented. A Dulux spokesperson said it believed it had been very clear in describing the offer.

King & Wood Mallesons partner David Friedlander and Greenhill Caliburn co-chief executive Ron Malek, who are both advising Alesco, are members of the Takeovers Panel. They would have no involvement in Takeovers Panel deliberations if it agrees to hear Alesco’s complaint.